The Projection of Racism in Richard Wright’s Black Boy

Abstract

purpose of this study is to demonstrate violence in the novel Black Boy by Richard Wright through examining ways of violence against black community during the times when the Jim Crow Laws were implemented. According to the Constitution of the United States of America, everyone is born with equal rights. However, the term ‘equality’ was non-existent or irrelevant in the states of Southern America. In the southern states, the Jim Crow Laws were unanimously being amended and forced upon the inhabitants of those states. The black community was very harshly treated during those times. Even innocuous incidents, like looking at a white person in the eye were punishable by law. The punishments were very brutal and included forceful arrest, severe beating and mob-lynching. The story in the novel Black Boy mainly recollects the life of Wright and more importantly his interactions with the whites, his neighbors and his own family who were scared and very pious during Jim Crow Era. The life that Richard Wright faced in his childhood and early adulthood was very hurtful. But due to his endless efforts, intelligence and desire to fight against injustice, he was able to achieve considerable success as a black despite living under the Jim Crow Laws

Keywords

• Violence, Richard Wright, Jim Crow laws, Black Boy, Jim Crow Era, Black community, America